Compensation: Innocent Lyari deaths to be investigated

KARACHI: The government will investigate the killing of innocent people in Lyari during the police action, declared Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah on Monday.

Shah confirmed that MNA Nabeel Gabol has written the president for a judicial probe.  Only about six out of 36 people killed were suspected to be involved in crime. The rest could be innocent.

Compensation will come in the form of Rs500,000 for those who lost their lives and Rs200,000 for those who were injured.  “Not only this, but we are also evaluating the financial losses on account of the donkeys killed in Lyari,” he said.

Responding to a question, Shah said during the press conference, “I admit that the people of Lyari are angry with us, but we know that their anger is temporary.”  He reiterated that Lyari was a stronghold of the Pakistan Peoples Party and no other but the PPP would again win in the future.

When asked about the campaign started by the Pakistan Muslim League-N against the incumbent government, he said that the opposition parties were frustrated with rising popularity of the PPP.

“Everyone knows how Nawaz came to power during Ghulam Ishaque Khan and Farooque Leghari’s tenure. He stepped over the shoulders of these presidents to come to power,” he added.

He advised the PML-N leaders to be patient as President Asif Ali Zaradri would announce the schedule for the new elections by December.

The chief minister announced that the PPP will start a campaign against the PML-N.

Bigwigs of Sindh join PPP

Earlier, the Sindh chief minister welcomed the political bigwigs of Nausheroferoze and Benazirabad districts, who joined the ruling PPP on Monday.

They included Syed Asghar Ali Shah, former senator and provincial minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, a former PML-Q MPA, and Syed Sarfraz Ali Shah, former tehsil nazim of Kandiaro, and Syed Junaid Ali Shah, an influential political leader of Nawabshah. Syed Murad Ali Shah, who was a provincial minister during the Nawaz Sharif and Musharraf governments, said that he was happy to rejoin his old party.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2012.